Joaquín Benoit

This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Benoit and the second or maternal family name is Peña.

Joaquín Benoit
Detroit Tigers – No. 53
Relief pitcher
Born: July 26, 1977 (1977-07-26) Santiago, Dominican Republic
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
August 8, 2001 for the Texas Rangers
Career statistics (through 2011)
Win–loss record	35–31
Earned run average	4.34
Strikeouts	676
Teams
Texas Rangers (2001–2008) Tampa Bay Rays (2010) Detroit Tigers (2011–present)
Career highlights and awards
2010 Tony Conigliaro Award

Joaquín Antonio Benoit Peña (born July 26, 1977, in Santiago, Dominican Republic) is a Dominican professional baseball relief pitcher with the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball in the United States. He is 6'3" and weighs 220 pounds.

Baseball career

Texas Rangers

Signing with the Rangers at the age of 16, Benoit had been with the organization for his entire professional career. Except rehab assignments after stints on the disabled list, he had been with the Major League club full-time since midway through the 2003 season. Benoit's seven years with the Texas Rangers made him the second-longest tenured member of the team after Michael Young.

Originally a starter, Benoit was moved to the bullpen part-time in the 2003 season. Since then, he had served in various relief roles, making spot starts as necessary.

Benoit holds the Major League record for having recorded the longest save in history. He relieved Todd Van Poppel at the start of the third inning of a game against the Baltimore Orioles on September 3, 2002.

In 2006, Benoit ranked in the top-10 American League relievers in strikeouts, innings pitched, and percentage of inherited runners who scored.

On January 27, 2009, Benoit underwent surgery to fix a torn rotator cuff, and missed the 2009 season.

Tampa Bay Rays

Benoit was signed to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training by the Tampa Bay Rays for the 2010 season. He was called up to the Rays and debuted with the team April 29, 2010. He put together an incredible campaign and established himself as one of the game's premier setup men. Benoit finished with a 1.34 ERA and 0.68 WHIP, allowing just 30 hits, 11 walks and nine earned runs in 60 1/3 innings while fanning 75 batters. His strong season resulted in his winning the Tony Conigliaro Award.

Detroit Tigers

Benoit in 2011

On November 19, 2010, Benoit signed a three-year contract with the Detroit Tigers. The deal was worth 16.5 million dollars with performance bonuses up to $1 million annually. Benoit didn't quite replicate his outstanding 2010 season but had a solid year nonetheless, finishing with a 4–3 record, 2.95 ERA and 1.05 WHIP. He struck out 63 hitters in 61 innings, allowing just 47 hits and 20 earned runs. Benoit came on in relief in the decisive Game 5 of the American League Divisional Series against New York and recorded five crucial outs. He tight-roped out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam, giving up just one run thanks to key strikeouts of Alex Rodriguez and Nick Swisher.

Repertoire

Benoit features three pitches on most nights. He throws mid 90s fastball, a mid 80s slider, and a low 80s changeup.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)